Wild Flag

If anyone ever questions a female's ability to rock, crank Wild Flag and watch them weep. The quartet comprises vets of the grrrl-power '90s: Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), Mary Timony (Helium), Janet Weiss (Quasi) and Rebecca Cole (The Minders). Opening with "Romance," a flirty pop-punk hand-clapper, their debut quickly shifts into proggy acid-punk (see "Glass Tambourine"). Brownstein's and Timony's vocals and guitars slither around one another with self-assured defiance, as Weiss pounds and Cole's keyboards hypnotize. And they do it all with just the right touch of Go-Gos girliness.